I took a 1 night, 2 day trip to Takayama City in Gifu prefecture and visited several places that were connected to the Buddhist monk Enku.

I don’t know much about Enku, but I have been enamored of the wooden statues of the Buddha that he created ever since I discovered them when visted Takayama last year.

I had the chance to do so when I was invited to visit by someone from the magazine Bijutsu Techo. Something about it felt right, so I went despite an extremely busy schedule.

I vaguely understand that statues of the Buddha are supposed to follow certain rules and guidelines. However Enku’s statues of the Buddha did not follow them.

Many of them are carved so simply that you could think that they are half-finished, like rough carvings.

Regardless, the faces are captivating. They are tilted ever so slightly. Their very simple expressions, brought out by just the lines, along with the simplicity of the touch is rather calming for the heart.

Religion. Shintoism. Buddhism. In the face of such divinity, the walls that grow within us, the unbridgeable gulf we view as separating us, all lead to us moving away from their true nature.

Enku’s statues of the Buddha unabashedly display their true nature.

I would have liked to follow more of the trail of Enku, who is said to have carved more than 100,000 statues of the Buddha during his lifetime.

… I wonder why I have a lot of work involving Buddhist temples recently… for the record I am not a Buddhist monk. But I am knowledgeable about Buddhist temples in general.